this is not to feed into controversy of whether Ismail a.s. is a prophet and how the Ahlul kitaab view Ismail a.s. versus how the Muslims view Ismail a.s.

when Ishaq a.s. is mentioned with Ibrahim a.s. it’s because it’s related to the overall message in that passage

when Ismail a.s. is mentioned it’s because it’s pertinent to that passage

so it’s not to the exclusion of the other of necessarily indicate anything to the controversy above

wazhkur fl kitaabi Ismail– and mention from the book Ismail

Innahu kaana Saadiqal wa’di – indeed he was truthful to the promise

grammatically speaking this is called the idhafah

idhaafah not to be translated literally

used as an expression

someone who always fulfill their promise, one way to do it is to do possession, in English genitive case – shows a very strong connection between 2 things

saadiqal wa’di – always live up to his promises

alwa’di – al is talking about one specific instance of a promise, it was that great promise mentioned in surah Saffaat

Sahih International

And when he reached with him [the age of] exertion, he said, “O my son, indeed I have seen in a dream that I [must] sacrifice you, so see what you think.” He said, “O my father, do as you are commanded. You will find me, if Allah wills, of the steadfast.”

37:103

Sahih International

And when they had both submitted and he put him down upon his forehead,

he didn’t just say “Yeah Inshaallah” (like some of us do)

he laid down, he was compliant

37:104

Sahih International

We called to him, “O Abraham,

37:105

Sahih International

You have fulfilled the vision.” Indeed, We thus reward the doers of good.

wa kaana rasoolan nabiyaa– and he was a messenger and a prophet

he was called rasool because he laid the foundation for an entire people (whom we know as the Arab today)

that entire society was built around Ismail a.s.

as a leader, he was the one who led and established that entire society that became an entire region of people

he established a code of law among those people

he was also a prophet of Allah

at the same time, he started a line of people whom at the end will be Muhammad saw

the fruit of dua of Ibrahim a.s. came from Ismail’s lineage

Ismail a.s. was put to work by Ibrahim a.s.

“I would like to see this dua come to fruition and I will put you to work”

it shows us some very deep insight into this leader and how he led his people

can be summarized in one phrase that is very easy to say but finding a manifestation of it is very difficult to come by today in our time

he led by example

next ayah makes it clear

Ayat 55

Sahih International

And he used to enjoin on his people prayer and zakah and was to his Lord pleasing.

wa kaana ya”muru ahlahu bi salaah – He would consistently command his family to stick to the prayer

whenever you combine Kaana with present tense verb it makes is consistent

he would consistently command his family to stick to the prayer

wa zakaati – and the zakaat

zakaat here can be literal meaning(purification, inner purity, make sure you are internally purifying yourself and not just going through the motions of prayer) and the more technical meaning(charity)

Muhammad saw who was the eventual descendant of Ismail a.s. and brought the completion of the message of Ibrahim a.s. and Ismail a.s. and all the prophets, in end surah Taha it makes mention f same aspect of lifestyle of life of Prophet saw

20:132

Sahih International

And enjoin prayer upon your family [and people] and be steadfast therein. We ask you not for provision; We provide for you, and the [best] outcome is for [those of] righteousness.

today, forget about leadership, the common family outsources their religious education of their children

families even though they are concerned about the tarbiyyah of their children that is already a blessing

we are so concerned, rightfully so, about the well being of our children, career, that is fine because parents are supposed to be

but the emotional well being is another issue and problem but nevertheless at some level there is some concern about that

but spiritual well being, little to no attention is paid to that

we figured that if they get good grades, wear nice clothes, live in a nice house, and if they can get a good job, find them a nice attractive spouse who also has a good degree, good job, live in nice house, “done deal, I did a great job”

but what about their spirituality?

Sheikh says, “I fear for myself and for my own children, so I don’t want to come off preachy at all, but I can tell you about people whom I grew up with, so this isn’t like some horror stories from the hood. Muslim parents with good education, nice house, but focus was simply those things, and when they have children, their children are completely unaware of the fact that they are Muslims. Some of them don’t even have Muslim names. Maybe they have some basic type of Muslim name, but they have little to no awareness of the fact that they are Muslims and any real realization of Allah, Salah, zhikr or Quran in their lives. The only thing to think about then is that if some major turning point don’t happens in their live, which we pray and hope will inshaAllah, what will happen to their children? What are the odds at least? It’s a very scary thought.”

we need to be concerned about the spiritual condition of our children

introduce him to Allah, teach him responsibility through the deen

salah is such an unbelievable form of tarbiyyah

it teaches you punctuality, responsibility, commitment

zakaah teaches you social awareness, rights and moral and ethics with people

teach them these admirable qualities and traits through deen

emphasize education to them through the Quran

give them literacy even through the Quran, life of Messenger saw, give them a sense of history through seerah

we’re missing the boat on this

unfortunate reality – the minority today that is somewhat concerned about the spirituality of their children and we outsource this, we hire people to teach them how to pray, Sunday school will teach them about who Allah is, Imam will teach how to read Quran, what am I going to teach my children?

subhaanAllah what a blessing that we do have these types of people with these qualifications in our community and that somehow our children are able to have some form of deen

but what we are starting to see, and this issue is brought to the table by parents constantly and when we talk to the children, it’s exactly what we suspect a lot of times :- the parents never become any type of an authority or never have any significance to them when it comes to their deen, so when they have financial, physical, emotional problems or anything else they will go talk to their parents and take their advice but when they mature a little bit, and it’s some type of spiritual concern and parents say “pray” they don’t care, they don’s listen, because my parents never taught me to pray, I didn’t learn to read Quran from my mom, this is something they never imparted to me

there is a disconnect, they don’t connect it back to their parents and family

as parents we need to be the first teachers of the deen

I should be the one who teaches my daughter how to make wudhu

I should be the one who teaches my son how to read Quran

specialization is a different matter

if I want my son to memorize Quran, then i can outsource that of course

any elementary school teacher will tell you that those children who do well in school whose parents sit and read and do their math problems with them at home

same thing goes with Quran

at 20:16 -: even in Islamic education, in memorizing Quran, my mom always jokes about this, she says she did hifdh twice, and I only say, Alhamdulillah Allah blessed me to memorize Quran and some other friends also along me, but to them the blessing of memorizing Quran has no practical realization in their lives today. I on the other hand was blessed to lead taraweeh 17 years in a row. That was not an accomplishment on my part, that was my parents. Cause when I was memorizing Quran, my mom was the one who made sure I would review my lesson. I se some of the huffadh here nodding. She would listen to me and made sure I would memorize before I go to sleep. she would keep up with the daily lesson. When my younger brother was memorizing Quran it was even more because he was a trouble maker. She had to be part of the process all the way through. When I was done memorizing Quran, I had to go back to school because at that time there was no program where I could do both, my father was the one who would get back home early everyday, he owned his own business and in business there was no such thing as coming back home early. He would listen to me recite a juz every single day. When it was time for me to start leading salat taraweeh and the nearest place where I could lead was 30 miles away. Imagine Ramadan 30miles one way and 30 miles the other way. My parents would do that, come with me, drive there, drive back. One Ramadan, the only place we could find a place for him to lead taraweeh was 50 miles away. Sometimes because of traffic they would have to do iftaar in the car. It takes that commitment. This is a very small scale example of just one little aspect. That’s how parents have to be involved.

while this might not seem too relevant to everyone here, but I think it applies to everyone in some capacity or another because we are all activists in our ways/capacities

her it’s talking about the nabi of Allah, that he’s on the platform of responsibility for prophethood

but Allah is saying he himself taught his family

Muhammad saw, look and think who he is, he was sent to all humanity

he’s being told announce to mankind that he’s sent to all of us, but in spite of that Allah is telling him that HE needs to teach his family to pray

this is the dirty little secret of the Muslim community today -: the teacher’s children, the children of the sheikh, those people in those position if iman, sheikh, they themselves need to be teaching their families too

saving the whole world and leaving their own family just doesn’t add up

such an unbelievable contradiction

not to say that there are rare situations like son of Nuh a.s.

but that is exception and not the rule

who want to look at a young child and say “Son of Nuh a.s.”

We all want good for our children

no cause if worth neglecting your own children, being an absentee mothers of fathers

if sisters are teachers or active in the community, that is not a good enough excuse

Prophet saw, every single day after asr, from asr to maghrib, would spend time with the family

this was a regular part of Prophet saw’s routine

we ourselves need to be involved in spiritual education of our children

no matter what we’re doing, no cause is a good enough excuse for me to neglect my own children

wa kaana inda rabbi hi mardhiyyan – and he is in the sight of his Lord, he was someone who was very very pleasing to Allah

mardhiyyan – someone very very pleasing to Allah

this is the type of slave Allah is pleased with

notice the sequence, fact that this is mentioned in same ayah

many times we want to be out there to be active, serve the deen to seek pleasure of Allah

realize that raising a good family, being a good husband, mother, wife, this is sometimes the greatest contribution we can make

this can lead you to the pleasure of Allah itself

we need to move out of this dichotomy of family is somehow not related to spirituality, or that spending time with your family is somehow time away form ibadah and zhikr from Allah

even in fiqh, fuqaha have talked about this

marriage is ibadah

spending time with your wife is ibadah

money you spend on your children is a form of sadaqah

spending time in your children is a form of ibadah

3 things you leave behind when son of Adam dies ceases except 3 things – one of them is a pious child who makes dua for parents

how can you do that if you don’t spend time with them

Ayat 56

Sahih International

And mention in the Book, Idrees. Indeed, he was a man of truth and a prophet.

wazhkur fil kitaabi idrees– mention, from the Quranic perspective who is Idrees

Who is Idrees?

some mufasiroon mention that he was one of the forefathers of Nuh a.s.

some mufasiroon mention that he was the first prophet after Adam a.s.

some mufasiroon mentioned he is possible grandson of Adam a.s.

based on narration found in Mustadraq al Haakim – he lived a 1000 years before Nuh a.s.

some narrations talk about some of the special things about Idrees

that he was the first person to teach astrology, one of first people to elaborate on Mathematics, to write with a pen, to stitch clothing where people used to use skin of animals, invent measurements and tools of measurements

but many of these narrations not completely authenticated so Allah knows best

many great mufasiroon mention these things in their tafaseer but at the end of if they say Allah knows best as to the authenticity of these narrations

we don’t know alot about Idrees a.s.

prophet saw don’t mention him a whole lot

in narration of Israa Mi’raj where Prophet saw mention the different prophets he meets, he mentions meeting him at 4th heaven but Allah knows best

surah Anbiya 21:85

Sahih International

And [mention] Ishmael and Idrees and Dhul-Kifl; all were of the patient.

of his special qualities it was mentioned that he was among the very patient of prophet of Allah, and there he was mentioned along with Ismail a.s.

he was mentioned with Ismail a.s. right here too

you find that connection

he being called very very patient and mentioned along with Ismail a.s. in two places, and one of the qualities of Ismail a.s. was also that he was very very patient

Idrees a.s. as a prophet, one of his special quality was that he was very patient

it doesn’t mention him being a rasul but it says he is siddeeqan nabiyya

when you back up into the surah right here in this passage if you try to make a connection

look at ayah 41 it also says Sideeqan nabiyya , same quality

Ibrahim a.s. always lived up to the test and task

Idrees share quality of patience with Ismail a.s. and also with Ibrahim a.s.

Idrees must have been someone greatly tested by Allah and someone who always lived up to the test and always exemplified patience in the face of those tests

and that’s why he’s been paired with Ismail a.s. not once but twice in Quran and Allah knows best

Ayat 57

Sahih International

And We raised him to a high station.

warafa’naahu makaanan ‘aliyyan – and We elevated him to a very lofty position

certain narrations which make mention of fact that Idrees a.s. was literally physically lifted up to the heavens

many of tafaaseer, each book of tafseer has their own good and perspective you can get

Ibn kathir focuses on Tafsir through quotations, narrations

whenever he brings ayah of Quran, he will bring another ayah of Quran then he will bring hadeeth and then quotes from sahabah, tabi’oon and great scholars

when it comes to narrations Ibn Kathir is a very reliable source to go to to find explanation of an ayah

About Idrees a.s. he concludes, “All these narrations we get is from Ka’ab Al Ahbaar, who is not very reliable, often quoted in commentary of some Ayat, but he would take extraneous or interpretation of some ayat he would find even from people of the book and other sources whether reliable or unreliable and pass them forward.”

not very trustworthy in eyes of scholars

many of these are narrations we find from Ahlul kitaab, which Prophet saw has given us ultimate ruling on it, we don’t accept or deny them

Allah knows best – that’s good enough for us

so much so that he says “I find some of them very very difficult to reconcile with Islamic ruling and teachings”

thus, majority of mufasiroon focus on figurative meaning of this ayah

elevation – in good qualities he was raised, in nobility, honor, tasdeeeq, patience, prophethood

What is significance of his mention here?

since we don’t know a lot about him

one of reflections – it’s talking about consistency of the message of the prophet saw

that message that Prophet saw is presenting is not something new, radical but it’s consistent with teachings of all prophets

look at broad spectrum of prophets it’s presenting now

from one end of spectrum, noble people like Maryam and then prophets like Zakariya a.s., Yahya a.s., Isa a.s., (addressing Christians) and them Musa a.s. Harun a.s., Ishaq a.s., Yaqoub a s., (ahlul kitab as a whole now addressed) Ibrahim (now addressing the Mushrikoon of Makkah) and then even mentions a prophet like Idrees a.s. whom we know very little to nothing about

that is practically saying that even those prophets that you don’t know much about, that this message is consistent with their teachings as well

there are so many prophets we don’t even know about

in Musnad of Imam Ahmad when Prophet saw was asked about how many prophets Allah had sent, he said there were more than 124,000 prophets and messengers. How many of them were rusul he said more than 300 of them were rusul

so you’re dealing with the ultimate truth here, not something insignificant, it’s something that has been presented to people since way back

Ayat 58

Sahih International

Those were the ones upon whom Allah bestowed favor from among the prophets of the descendants of Adam and of those We carried [in the ship] with Noah, and of the descendants of Abraham and Israel, and of those whom We guided and chose. When the verses of the Most Merciful were recited to them, they fell in prostration and weeping.

ulaaikallazheena an’amallahu alaihim mina nabiyyeen – those they are the people whom Allah has blessed from the prophets

Allah has bestowed blessings upon many people but now He’s specifying the prophets

that all the prophets of Allah, this is their message,this is how they live their lives

we can go back to Zakariyya a.s. how he supplicated to Allah

How Yahya a.s. was, he was gentle, pure, god fearing

about Isa a.s. :- he stuck to prayer, charity, good to his mother, not pushy and bossy, disobedient

Ibrahim a.s. would live up to test, so gentle and affectionate with his father, he preached with compassion, empathy, kindness, love

about Musa a.s.:- someone whom Allah had blessed very profoundly

Ismail a.s. and family value aspect of Ismail a.s. – he would teach his family, spend time with his family, live a life pleasing to Allah

here it’s specifying prophets of Allah and now it’s specifying it even more

min zhuriyati Aadam –

no surah is just a random hodge podge, it’s all connected

it’s not just a book of quotes

it’s so intimately, intricately tied together

here this is referring to Idrees a.s., because he literally was quite possible grandson of Adam a.s.

wa mimman hamalnaa ala Nuh -and from those people whom We had carried with Nuh a.s.

After Nuh a.s., the one who brought truth back was Ibrahim a.s.

wa min zhurriyati Ibrahim – and from the progeny of Ibrahim a.s.

Ishaq a.s., ismail, yaqoubd

wa israaeel– and progeny of Israael

Musa a.s., Harun a.s., Zakariya a.s., Yahya a.s., Isa a.s.

all prophets talked about in this surah all tied back together in this ayah

wa mimman hadaynaa wajtabaynaa– and whom We had guided and We had selected

interesting that word hidaayah being used

that was the purpose why prophets were sent

for each and every single people there was a carrier of guidance

that’s why he’s called guider because he’s the means through which guidance comes

when it says hadaynaa , it refers to the followers of prophets

they’re also blessed by Allah like these prophets

wajtabaynaa– and We chose

ijtibaa – to select something from amongst a bigger group

e.g. if you pick green M&Ms from a jar of M&Ms

this word used for when it talks about guiding people amongst all of humanity

in surah hajj Allah says huwa jtabaakum – He chose you all

it’s talking about believers

prophets were blessed by Allah and they carried on this blessing of guidance and truth to the people

but Allah says there were people whom We gave this guidance to and those were the people who were selected by Us

at any level if we are able to identity this guidance we know who these prophets are, we know the message they brought

even if I’m not really practicing, but the fact that I identify this, believe in the prophets, in Allah, recognize the guidance they brought, I should feel blessed. Allah has granted me guidance and I’m of those selected from among all of mankind

this is a kind of positive reinforcement

there is too much beating up that goes on in terms of not being religious, practicing enough

we find this positive dawah even in Quran that Allah is imparting

Allah also gives dawah but He gives dawah to Darus Salaam (abode of peace)

if you at least has some level of Islam, Iman, even if you’re not fully living it right now, realize that you are from a select group of people

isn’t that motivating, so why not lie up to those expectations now

after it motivates you, what are you supposed to do with this positive energy now?

Allah tells us to follow the example of the prophets

izhaa tutlaa alayhim ayaatu Rahmaani kharru sujjada wa bukiyya– when ayat of the very very merciful One is recited upon them, they fall in prostration weeping

word rahmaan used here, used a lot in this surah

‘them’ refers to not just messengers but to those people who have been selected (mentioned above)

kharru– they fall down

kharra– fall down immediately, all of a sudden, has implication of falling down by losing control of yourself, like you can’t hold yourself up anymore

sujadan – in prostration, exaggerated form, plural and plural of exaggerated form of the word

sajjada– to put face on the ground

they do sajdah not only once, but repeatedly with full concentration

bukiyyan– plural of exaggerated form of the word

root of the word means to cry

they don’t just cry but they cry a lot, out of sincerity

they can’t help themselves, they all of a sudden fall down in sujud to Allah, crying

it says to follow example of these prophets but it gives one specific aspect of lives of prophets, how they lived it and it’s ayat of Rahmaan

ayatu rahmaan – for us, it’s the Quran

when it’s recited, true believers don’t just listen to it and say ‘beautiful recitation’, but it has a greater purpose in their lives and they internalize

sujjadan – they live, implement the mesage

bukiyyan – shows that they have internalized the message, they cry before Allah

there are certain places in Quran called ayatu sajdah, when they are recited we would do sujud, this is done in emulation of sunnah of Prophet saw